Saturday, September 11, 2010

september shifu

early september mama nature encroaching on wake robin. not much autumn showing, but the light show is beginning.

this is all that's left of the milkweed paper i made years and years ago, in the days of frequent job changes and unemployment. it was made in winter, from field retted milkweed fiber. i remember stripping the fiber in my kitchen, cooking, then taking it out and preparing it in a blender, adding tororo aoi, and making the thinnest sheets. these are strong despite being thin. and so i sacrificed a poorly formed one to the shifu goddess.

and made several short lengths of spun paper.

this little ball of paper was spun from a variously thick and thin sheet, and the resulting thread is quite irregular.

i am growing weary of struggling with unevenness, however, and may take a more deliberate approach to my thread making. it looks like i may travel to toronto's japanese paper place to hear hiroko karuno speak about her work. this is for me an amazing opportunity, and i am quietly excited.

oh, and my student's book: he said guess who i gave my book to? and i, thinking only that he was unhappy with it, said you didn't keep it? and he said no, i gave it to my brother in law. (who is a soldier, heading back to afghanistan) why? i asked. so he can use it to write while he's there and he'll have a special book to bring back to the family. that's perfect, i said. this soldier is my student's hero. how beautiful is this?

i'm wondering if you finger spin it the same way as i make bush string, or if you palm roll it over your thigh? i could show a small woven square that i made from finger spun string of fine Japanese paper.your student would have been very proud to be able to send a little part of himself with his BIL to Afghanistan...k.

i spun this on a swedish boat shuttle bobbin winder designed for weaving. it works like a cotton or a japanese wheel. i also sometimes use a louet wheel. i spin so much i need to have a spinning device.

i cursed a LOT today at breakage! i am loudly excited for your toronto trip. and that milkweed paper makes it even HARDER for me to walk around this neck of the woods and NOT cut down all the milkweed here!!

The student story just got a better ending - how special. I imagine these moments lift you a bit higher for a bit longer. The shifu is lovely and the uneveness special - but I also think its worth a try to see how the control thing goes!

Velma - What a great story of the book - both in its creation (and the confidence imparted); and in what hope it represents in being given to someone going to war - the expectation that they will bring it safely home. It iso good when we can offer so much in such small ways. Well done. I like the unevenness it offers the opportunity for texture. Barry